Ban Emergency in Punjab: SGPC to CM on eve of Kangana film release
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami says film on former PM Indira Gandhi shows Sikhs in poor light, threatens to “strongly protest it” if released on Friday.
A day before its release, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Thursday wrote to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann seeking a ban on the screening of Mandi BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s movie, Emergency, in the state.

The film, a biographical political thriller that delves into the life of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, has been directed and produced by Ranaut and has been embroiled in a controversy after Sikh organisations, including the SGPC and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), accused it of misrepresenting the community and getting facts wrong.
Emergency, which draws its name from the 21-month emergency period imposed by Indira Gandhi from 1975-77, was scheduled to be released in theatres across the country on September 6 but was shelved after the film did not get clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification. The CBFC cleared it after the makers agreed to modifications and deletions as suggested by it.
In the letter, Dhami wrote: “While lodging its protest, the SGPC has already sent its executive committee resolution to the state chief secretary in which it was clearly stated that the screening of this movie would not be allowed in Punjab because it has been made under a scheme to defame Sikhs.”
“The resolution demanded the Punjab government ban the screening of the movie in the state. However, sadly, the Punjab government led by you (Bhagwant Mann) did not take any step in this direction. If the movie is released on January 17, it would enrage the Sikh world, which is natural,” the letter read.
“By hiding facts related to attacks on the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, Sri Harmandar Sahib, the top temporal seat, Akal Takht Sahib, and other gurdwaras and the Sikh genocide (of 1984), this movie works to spread venom under an anti-Sikh agenda. So, we again demand a ban on screening this movie in Punjab. If released, we will be forced to strongly protest it,” Dhami added.
SGPC functionaries handed over memorandums to deputy commissioners across Punjab in support of their demand. In Amritsar, the memorandum was handed over by an SGPC delegation, led by committee secretary Partap Singh.
Objecting to the depiction of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in the film’s trailer released a few months ago, Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh had said, “Sikhs can never tolerate imitation of their martyrs in films. In Kangana Ranaut’s film, the character of Bhindranwale has been distorted.”
After Sikh bodies alleged that the community has been shown in poor light, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the makers of the movie through its counsel on August 27 last year. In the notice, the makers were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14, 2024, from public and social media platforms and seek a written apology from the Sikh community. The notice had demanded the removal of objectionable scenes from the film.
